Practice machine



May 2, 1961 o. D. wlNDALL PRACTICE MACHINE Filed Aug. 11, 1958 FIG.3

IN VEN TOR. OWEN D. WI NDALL ATTORNEY United States Patsfif@ My invention relates to a practice machine suitable for use in practicing baseball, golf or similar games, the object being to improve the operators hitting power by incllicating on the machine the force with which the object 1s it.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a machine which is portable and which therefore may be car- I ried to any convenient location and established there for its operation.

Another object of my invention is to provide a machine which may be used to practice more than one game by the simple expedient of changing the object to be used and making a simple tension adjustment on the machine.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a machine which may be varied in its resistance according to the strength of the operator thus making it adaptable for the young and the old as well as for the amateur and the professional.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the specifications and drawings in which:

Fig. l is a top view of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the invention before operation and a dotted line view after operation.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing the invention partially through its operation cycle.

It will be understood that the entire recording mechanism may be made out of metal or certain parts thereof may be made out of wood, plastic or any other suitable type of material. y

Referring to the drawings, 5 is the base of the device which has spikes 6 and 7 axed to it and protruding through and from its bottom for the purpose of maintaining stability of the device when the spikes are forced into the ground.

Base 5 has a back rest S firmly attached to one end and beveled at 9 to hold at rest lever arm 10, in proximity to one of its ends, the same end of 10 terminating in one side 11 of the hinge joint; said joint being normally held in open position by coil spring 13 whose tension is made adjustable by one end terminating in keyed ratchet 14-so that more or less tension may be applied to the hinged joint by the tightening or loosening of the coil spring, as will be well understood by those skilled in the art.

'Ihe opposite side 15 of hinged joint 12 is attached td a second lever arm 16 pivoted at 17 to base 5 and having the end attached to 15 normally forced against base 5 by means of a coil spring 18 imposed between base 5 and lever 16; said coil spring being rmly affixed to base 5 by any suitable means.

Firmly attached at one end to back rest 8 and at the other end to base 5, isan arcuate piece 19 whose upper surface is formed into a series of ratchet teeth 20 which are numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4 for a purpose vwhich will later be explained.

The lever arm 10 iits over and encompasses arcuate piece 19 by means of an elongated slot 21 whose end 2,982,136 Patented May 2, 1961,l

22, opposite from hinge 12, abuts on the ratchet surface 20. It will now be seen by those skilled in the art, that in order for lever arm 10 to advance along ratchet teeth 20 a double action of lever arms 10 and `16 must occur and this action is impeded by both springs 13 and 18; thus as lever 10 advances along arcuate piece it must not only overcome the pressure of coil spring 13 which impedes its lateral vector force but also must lift lever arm 16 vertically against the opposing pressureof coilv spring 18 which tends to impede its vertical vector force, as shown by reference to Fig. 3.

Attached to the free end of lever arm 10 at 23 is a flexible line 24, which may be made of cord or any other suitable material and may be of any desired length suitable to the purpose for which the machine 'is being used. To the end of the cord 24 there is attached, in any suitable manner, the object to 'be struck 25, which may be a rubber baseball, standard baseball or golf ball as the case may be.

' Operation When, for example, the machine is to be used for baseball practice it is placed on the ground and the spikes 6 and 7 pushed into the soil. Coil 13 is adjusted by means of 14 to allow for the age and skill of the operator or batter. The batter takes his position using the machine as home plate while the pitcher takes the bal-l 25 attached to cord 24 and standing in front of the batter and pitches over the machine. As soon as the ball is struck and reaches the end of the cord 24, lateral pressure is exerted on the lever 1i) causing a lateral pull of the end 22 of slot 21 on ratchet tooth surface 2i) against the pressure of spring 13. Since, however, slot end .22 must travel upward along the ratchet tooth surface it must also move vertically against the pressure of spring 18, thus effecting a double impedance of its progress along the upper surface of arcuate piece 19. As the end of each ratchet tooth is reached slot end 22 will instantly jump down into the ratchet tooth nitch because of the pressure of spring 18; thus it will be seen that lever 1i) will advance step by step through yratchet teeth numbered 1 through 4 in accordance with the impetus applied to ball 25 thereby indicating by ratio the length of travel of an untethered ball.

To reset the'machine for another play downward pressure is brought to bear against the end of lever 16 which moves hinge 12 vertically thus lifting slot end 22 out of contact with arcuate piece 19 and allowing lever 10 to return to the rest 8 under the impetus of spring 13.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in my invention without departing from its scope in which I claim:

l. In a practice machine Aof the character described, a base, means for holding said base steady, a back rest rigidly mounted on said base, a lever arm normally resting on said back rest and attached to a second lever arm by a spring hin-ge, said second named lever arm being pivotally attached to said base and spring means attached to said base and in contact with said second named lever arm to normally urge said spring hinge against said base, an upstanding arcuate piece, having ratchet teeth on its arcuate upper surface, rigidly alixed at one end to said back rest and at the other end to said base; a slot in said first named lever arm adapted to encompess and engage the upper surface of said arcuate piece and a ball attached by flexible means to the free end of said iirst named lever, whereby a pull on the flexible means causes said slot to advance along said ratchet teeth against the force of the spring tension means, said ratchet teeth preventing return of said first named lever until the end of the second named lever is depressed.

2. In a practice machine of the character described,

aesaiae sion spring hinge, said second, named llever arm beingpivotally attached to said base in proximity to its center and a coil spring attached to said base and in YContact with said second named lever arm to normally urge' said spring hinge against said base, an upstanding arcuate piece, having ratchet teeth on its arcuate upper surface, rigidly affixed at one end to said back rest and at the other end to said base, a slot in said tirst named lever arm adapted to encompass and engage the upper surface of said arcuate piece and a ball attached by a cord to the free end of said lirst named lever, whereby a pull on the cord causes said slot toV advance along said ratchet teeth against the force of the spring tension means, said ratchet teeth preventing return of the first named lever to the back rest until the end of the second named lever is depressed.

References Cited. in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS v .408,251 Nichols A Aug. 6, 1889 1,721,041 Rotermund July 16, 1929 2,l09,55l Y Sacher Mar. 1, 1938 2,201,697 Martin et al May 21, 1940V 

